FEBRUARY 23, 1999:
Mike Judge made his mark as the creator of MTV's notorious animated
smash "Beavis & Butt-head"--a series that was far
smarter than most people, including the show's fans, gave it credit
for. For his next foray into animation, Judge developed the markedly
more mature "King of the Hill" for FOX. The show was
a critical and ratings success until it was yanked from its cushy
Sunday night timeslot and dumped onto Tuesdays, where it promptly
lost half its audience (but retained its critical hype). Now Judge
continues his outward maturation process by writing and directing
his first live-action film. Like his previous efforts, Office
Space is a rabidly funny comedy, the more blatant humor of
which masks a subtle, biting lampoon of modern daily life.

Office Space is loosely based on a series of short animated
clips Judge made for "Saturday Night Live" a few years
ago. The "Milton" shorts featured a mumbly, much-abused
office worker who silently vowed to blow up the building every
time the boss took away his stapler or moved his desk. In the
expanded live-action "Milton" universe, Ron Livingston
stars as Peter Gibbons, a workaday slob slaving away at a soul-sucking
corporate giant known as Initech Industries. Peter and his fellow
white collar slaves are slowly, quietly and quite irrevocably
going insane between paychecks. There's Samir (Ajay Naidu), the
short-tempered software engineer fostering a growing feud with
a temperamental fax machine. There's the unfortunately named Michael
Bolton (David Herman), the white bread computer geek who listens
incessantly to hard-core gangsta rap (but nervously rolls up his
windows and locks the car doors whenever a black person strolls
by). And, of course, there's good old Milton ("Newsradio's"
Steven Root) being mercilessly abused by smarmy boss Mr. Lumbergh
(Gary Cole).

Peter is the typical directionless, unhappy office worker until
one day he has a sudden epiphany and decides he's just not going
to work any more. He's not quitting, mind you; he's just not going
to work. Miraculously, Peter's lackadaisical new attitude--which
mostly comprises wearing shorts to the office and playing Tetris
all day--results in both a promotion and a cute new girlfriend
(Jennifer Aniston).

Office Space is a comedy of little moments. "King
of the Hill" proves that Judge is a sharp observer of human
behavior, and he's captured Office Space's air of corporate
frustration perfectly without resorting to "Dilbert"-style
flights of fantasy. Tiny, easily-missed jokes--like the hideous
Bennigan's-style chain eatery "Chotchkies" where the
walls are covered in junk and the employees are required to wear
"a minimum 15 pieces of flair"--are the ones viewers
should be on the lookout for.

Office Space doesn't waste a lot of time concerning itself
with plot. Judge, it seems, would rather spend his time telling
jokes than telling a story. Eventually, some conflict occurs when
Peter's pals Samir and Michael are fired in a corporate downsizing
move. Peter comes up with a plan to skim money from Initech's
company credit union. Naturally, the plan goes awry and the boys
must cover up their misdeed. But viewers shouldn't waste their
time waiting for the big pay-off. There isn't one. On a similar
note, Jennifer Aniston is largely superfluous in the "new
girlfriend" role. Viewers looking for a satisfying romantic
sub-plot will come up empty. Towards the end, there is the tiniest
of hiccups in the relationship, but it's resolved almost before
it begins.

To say that Office Space is a great script is probably
stretching the truth. Judge needs a few more long-form efforts
under his belt (the second Beavis & Butt-head feature
will be the next) before he establishes himself as a solid filmmaker.
Still, his funny bone is in the right place. You'd be hard pressed
to find a funnier flick, or--if you work in an office--a more
painfully accurate one. Call in sick and catch a matinee.